Posted on 04/27/2006 10:02:42 PM PDT by CIDKauf
Unsung hero hailed
Vet lost leg but not hope
BY LISA MUÑOZ DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Vietnam veteran John Devine remembers lifting up the hospital bedsheet, seeing just one leg and thinking, "At least I got one." An enemy mortar had destroyed his right leg and taken the life of a soldier beside him, yet Devine managed to look on the bright side.
The Massapequa man would later give in to years of feeling sorry for himself before reaching a turning point when he decided to be happy and enjoy life, he said.
Devine, 57, who dedicated his life to helping disabled veterans after losing his leg, will receive the 2006 Unsung Hero Award from the Disabled Veterans for Life Memorial Foundation, along with a check for $50,000, at a gala dinner at Manhattan's Pierre Hotel Tuesday night.
In the years since he left Vietnam and learned to adjust to his disability, Devine worked as an aide for the New York City Police Department, graduated from college and sold insurance for 22 years until he retired in 1997.
Devine also dedicated himself to helping other disabled vets lead productive lives, and to bringing others like him to Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center to visit soldiers disabled in Iraq and Afghanistan
ID & Young Earth
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